If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

June 10, 2008; Page A16
What do the farm bill, the cap-and-trade global warming bill, the clean water bill, the housing bailout bill, and the school construction bill all have in common? Not much, except that in each one and countless others the Democratic majority in Congress has inserted "prevailing-wage" requirements that amount to a super-minimum wage.

We're speaking of Davis-Bacon, the 1931 law that originally applied to road building and other federal construction projects and set a floor on wages in part to price black and Mexican workers out of the work. Today, its main impact is to require de facto union wages. Many reputable studies have estimated that Davis-Bacon inflates federal construction costs by anywhere from 5% to 39%. A Heritage Foundation analysis of wage data reports that in many cities the mandated Davis-Bacon wage is twice as high as the market wage. In Nassau-Suffolk in New York, for example, Davis-Bacon requires a minimum wage for brickmasons of $49.67 an hour, though the more common area wage for that work is $25.50.

So while Democrats insist that one of their top priorities is to solve America's "infrastructure crisis," what they aren't saying is that we could be building about 25% more bridges and roads by repealing Davis-Bacon. Instead, they want to expand its rules to nearly every activity that receives a penny of government money. Congress is even trying to require all state and local governments to pay these escalated wages. This year's farm bill was the first in 75 years to require Davis-Bacon wages, in this case for the construction of ethanol plants. Democrats also slipped in Davis-Bacon rules for the wind, solar and other alternative energy projects.

June 10, 2008; Page A16
What do the farm bill, the cap-and-trade global warming bill, the clean water bill, the housing bailout bill, and the school construction bill all have in common? Not much, except that in each one and countless others the Democratic majority in Congress has inserted "prevailing-wage" requirements that amount to a super-minimum wage.

We're speaking of Davis-Bacon, the 1931 law that originally applied to road building and other federal construction projects and set a floor on wages in part to price black and Mexican workers out of the work. Today, its main impact is to require de facto union wages. Many reputable studies have estimated that Davis-Bacon inflates federal construction costs by anywhere from 5% to 39%. A Heritage Foundation analysis of wage data reports that in many cities the mandated Davis-Bacon wage is twice as high as the market wage. In Nassau-Suffolk in New York, for example, Davis-Bacon requires a minimum wage for brickmasons of $49.67 an hour, though the more common area wage for that work is $25.50.

So while Democrats insist that one of their top priorities is to solve America's "infrastructure crisis," what they aren't saying is that we could be building about 25% more bridges and roads by repealing Davis-Bacon. Instead, they want to expand its rules to nearly every activity that receives a penny of government money. Congress is even trying to require all state and local governments to pay these escalated wages. This year's farm bill was the first in 75 years to require Davis-Bacon wages, in this case for the construction of ethanol plants. Democrats also slipped in Davis-Bacon rules for the wind, solar and other alternative energy projects.

Many of these alternative energy plants lose money. They are not profitable and could not stand on their own unless they were subsidized by the government. With this added labor cost rule imposed on the construction of these plants, some of them may not be built which is a good thing in the case of Ethanol. Bricklayers would just price themselves out of a job.

In this area, many large conventions bypass the City of St Louis, where the union is so strong. The unions totally control everything done at the Convention Center. My company rarely participates in any trade shows there, as it is cost prohibitive.

There's a smaller convention center in a western burb that attracts many shows. I strongly suspect that the union doesn't have their claws into them.

LOS ANGELES - Bill Clinton on Tuesday canceled a commencement speech at the University of California, Los Angeles, because of a lingering labor dispute.

The former president was scheduled to address 4,000 graduating seniors on Friday, but his office said he would not appear because of the long-running rift between the university and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

"Due to the ongoing labor dispute, he regrets that he will be unable to participate in commencement this year and he wishes the UCLA graduates the best of luck," Clinton's office said a statement. <portions snipped>

What a wuss. I guess if he decides to run for dogcatcher some day he'll need union backing.

I am a UAW member, and the only thing I ask of them anymore is to represent me if I have problems with management on an individual basis. Otherwise, they really don't have much power anymore-we can't go on strike and wouldn't, even if we could.

From what I've read the unions really aren't too keen on supporting Obama. Of course they will probably all cave soon and throw their support his way. You know...people of principle that they all are.

Gun Control: The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her panty hose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound - Unknown

I am a UAW member, and the only thing I ask of them anymore is to represent me if I have problems with management on an individual basis. Otherwise, they really don't have much power anymore-we can't go on strike and wouldn't, even if we could.

Oh, they have power, the largest union is the NEA and they make no bones about supporting only one party!From the NEA website;

Valuable NEA Political Endorsement Remains Up for Grabs
Democratic presidential candidates have yet to make their case for support from America ’s public school employees
WASHINGTON — Political leaders and advocacy organizations are stumbling all over themselves to declare their choice to carry the Democratic standard in the presidential contest this fall. With the failure of Super Tuesday to define a clear-cut favorite for the Party's nomination however, the most valuable, and perhaps the most important, endorsement remains unclaimed by either Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.